WHY DO WE PLAY?
According to Jewish tradition, during the persecution under Antiochus IV Epiphanes in the second century BCE, Jewish children were forbidden from studying the Torah.
The story says that children would secretly study Torah and keep spinning tops nearby. If Seleucid Greek authorities approached, they would hide their studies and pretend to be playing a game.
Historical distinction: Although the persecution and suppression of Jewish religious practices are documented in 1 Maccabees 1:41–64 and 2 Maccabees 6:1–11, the story about children hiding Torah study with dreidels is a later tradition. It is not recorded in the books of Maccabees.
The story says that children would secretly study Torah and keep spinning tops nearby. If Seleucid Greek authorities approached, they would hide their studies and pretend to be playing a game.
Historical distinction: Although the persecution and suppression of Jewish religious practices are documented in 1 Maccabees 1:41–64 and 2 Maccabees 6:1–11, the story about children hiding Torah study with dreidels is a later tradition. It is not recorded in the books of Maccabees.
WHY THOSE LETTERS?
Each side of the dreidel contains a Hebrew letter, and together the letters represent:
נֵס גָּדוֹל הָיָה שָׁם — "Nes Gadol Hayah Sham", which in English,translates to "A Great Miracle Happened There" In Israel, the Shin (ש) is commonly replaced with Peh (פ), representing Po, or "here."
נֵס גָּדוֹל הָיָה שָׁם — "Nes Gadol Hayah Sham", which in English,translates to "A Great Miracle Happened There" In Israel, the Shin (ש) is commonly replaced with Peh (פ), representing Po, or "here."
GET YOUR GAME ON
Here are the directions. We also made this a printable so you can have a reminder sheet. If you know how to play but just want a reminder for what each letter represents, we made a different printable with just those strips so you can have one for each player and save some ink. Another tip is to buy a dreidel that has the name of the letter on it as well because we have some ideas to help you remember what you're supposed to do with each letter. Have fun, make memories! :)
